System and Method for Monitoring Performance Characteristics Associated With User Activities Involving Swinging Instruments

ABSTRACT

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to various components of a system for monitoring and/or tracking a user&#39;s performance during an activity involving an instrument that is swung. Exemplary embodiments can include a sensor module configured to be secured to and/or embedded within the instrument. The sensor module can detect a swing event and/or an impact between the instrument and an object and can generate pressures waves that propagate through air. The pressure waves can include information or represent information about a use of the instrument and can be detected by an electronic device associated with the user, which can display the information, process the information, and/or transmit the information to a remote system. The pressure waves can be modulated to encode information within the pressure waves.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/804,752, filed on Jul. 21, 2015, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, there has been efforts to automate the monitoring,tracking, and/or analysis of a golfer's performance during a round ofgolf. There remains a need for a system that effectively communicatesinformation and facilitates reliable and accurate automated monitoring,tracking, and/or analysis of a golfer's performance during a round ofgolf.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to variouscomponents of systems, methods, and/or non-transitory computer-readablemedia that facilitate monitoring and/or tracking a user's performanceduring a sporting activity involving a swinging instrument.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a sensormodule encoded with an identification parameter and adapted to beaffixed to or embedded in a golf club is disclosed. The sensor moduleincludes sensor circuitry, an electromechanical device, and controlcircuitry. The sensor circuitry includes at least one sensor that isoperable to generate an output in response to usage of the golf club(e.g., a golf swing). The electromechanical device is operable togenerate a pressure wave that propagates through air. The controlcircuitry is operatively coupled to the sensor circuitry and theelectromechanical device. The control circuitry is configured to (i)detect whether there is an impact between the golf club and an objectduring the golf swing based on the output of the sensor circuitry, (ii)control the electromechanical device to generate the pressure wave inresponse to detection of the impact, and (iii) control theelectromechanical device to modulate the pressure wave to encode theidentification parameter in the pressure wave and to indicate that theimpact has been detected.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice for monitoring tracking of a golf game is disclosed. Theelectronic device includes an electroacoustic device and controlcircuitry. The electroacoustic transducer operable to sense a pressurewave propagating through air and convert the pressure wave into anelectrical signal. The pressure wave being generated by a sensor moduleaffixed to or embedded within a golf club in response to detection of animpact between the golf club and an object during a golf swing, and ismodulated to encode therein information including an identificationparameter associated with the sensor module and to indicate detection ofthe impact. The control circuitry is operable to (i) receive theelectrical signal, (ii) extract the identification parameter from theelectrical signal, (iii) associate the pressure wave with the golf club,and (iv) attribute the impact to the golf club.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a system formonitoring activity associated with a golf club is disclosed. The systemincludes a sensor module affixed to or embedded in a golf club and anelectronic device spaced away from the sensor module. The sensor moduleinclude sensor circuitry having at least one sensor that is operable togenerate an output in response to usage of the golf club (e.g., a golfswing), an electromechanical device operable to generate a pressure wavethat propagates through air; and control circuitry. The controlcircuitry is operatively coupled to the sensor circuitry and theelectromechanical device, and is configured to (i) detect whether thereis an impact between the golf club and an object during the golf swingbased on the output of the sensor circuitry, (ii) control theelectromechanical device to output the pressure wave in response todetection of the impact, and (iii) control the electromechanical deviceto modulate the pressure wave to encode the identification parameter inthe pressure wave and to indicate that the impact has been detected. Theelectronic device includes an electroacoustic transducer operable tosense the pressure wave propagating through air and convert the pressurewave into an electrical signal; and control circuitry operable to (i)receive the electrical signal, (ii) extract the identification parameterfrom the electrical signal, (iii) associate the pressure wave with thegolf club, and (iv) attribute the impact to the golf club.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method ofmonitoring a golf club for a golf shot is disclosed. The method includessensing, via sensor circuitry of a sensor module, usage of a golf club(e.g., a golf swing); and detecting, via control circuitry, whetherthere is an impact between the golf club and an object during the golfswing based on an output of the sensor circuitry. The method alsoincludes controlling an electromechanical device of the sensor module togenerate, in response to detection of the impact, a modulated pressurewave having encoded therein information including an identificationparameter and indicating detection of the impact. The modulated pressurewave propagates through air to a remote electronic device configured toassociate the pressure wave with the golf club based on theidentification parameter.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the pressurewave can convey swing analysis information to the remote electronicdevice.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, theidentification parameter can be effective to differentiate the golf clubfrom which the pressure wave propagates from other golf clubs. Forexample, the remote electronic device can be programmed to differentiatebetween a plurality of golf clubs based on the identification parameter.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the pressurewave includes at least one characteristic of a swing of the golf club.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectromechanical device includes a speaker for generating the pressurewave.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the pressurewave can have a frequency between approximately fifteen kilohertz andapproximately twenty-five kilohertz.

In accordance with exemplary embodiments, a frequency at which thepressure wave propagates uniquely identifies the golf club.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the controlcircuitry can include a processing device.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the sensorcircuitry can include an accelerometer. A change in the acceleration ofthe golf club sensed by the accelerometer can be detected ascorresponding to the impact between the golf club and an object.

In accordance with exemplary embodiments, the control circuitry of theremote electronic device demodulates the electrical signal correspondingto the pressure wave.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions executable by a processing device included in the controlcircuitry. The processing device can be programmed to execute theinstructions to detect and extract the information from the electricalsignal corresponding to the pressure wave.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice can include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to receivebroadcasts from a global positioning satellite. The processing device ofthe electronic device can be programmed to determine a geographiclocation at which the electronic device senses the pressure wave.

Any combination and/or permutation of embodiments is envisioned. Otherembodiments, objects, and features will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that thedrawings are designed as an illustration only and not as a definition ofthe limits of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a performance monitoring system in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a sensor module that can beimplemented in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of sensor module circuitry embedded inan instrument in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the sensormodule circuitry that can be disposed with the sensor module shown inFIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram of another exemplary embodiment of the sensormodule circuitry that can be disposed with the sensor module shown inFIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a swingmonitoring system in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary range of orientations of a swinginginstrument that facilitate a change in the operational mode of thesensor module circuitry in accordance with exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary hardware implementation ofmodule activation circuitry in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an electronic device that can beimplemented in the performance monitoring system in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the performancemonitoring and/or tracking environment that can be implemented inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIGS. 10-15 show exemplary graphical user interfaces that can beprovided in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process for associating a golfclub with a sensor module by exemplary embodiments of the environment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process that can be implemented byexemplary embodiments of the sensor module circuitry during a swingevent.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a process that can be implemented by exemplaryembodiments of the sensor module circuitry to detect an impact during agolf swing.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process that can be implemented byan electronic device executing an exemplary embodiment of the monitoringand/or tracking environment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process that can be implemented inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure todetermine whether a golf shot occurred during a round of golf based ongeographic location data.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating another process that can beimplemented in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure to determine whether a golf shot occurred during a round ofgolf based on geographic location data.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a process that can be implemented inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure todetermine whether a golf shot occurred during a round of golf based on atemporal relationship of time-related reception data.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to variouscomponents of systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readablemedia for monitoring and/or tracking a user's performance during anactivity involving one or more swinging instruments. Exemplaryembodiments can include sensor modules configured to be secured of fixedto the instruments. As a non-limiting example, exemplary embodiments ofthe present disclosure can detect swing events and/or impacts betweenthe instruments and objects, can identify false positives to distinguishbetween swing events that should be attributed to a user's performanceand swing event that should not be attributed to a user's performance,can implement power management features to limit or manage a powerconsumption of the sensor module, and/or can implement other features,operations, function, and/or processes described herein.

The sensor module can create pressure waves that propagate through air.The pressure waves can be detected by an electroacoustic transducer ofan electronic device, which converts the mechanical energy of thepressure waves into electrical signals for processing by the electronicdevice. In exemplary embodiments, the pressure wave can includeinformation that can be used to identify the instrument from which thepressure wave propagates and can include information about a use of theinstrument. The information included in the pressure wave can beextracted by the electronic device upon detection of the pressure waveand conversion of the pressure wave to electrical signals.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary performance monitoring system 100 that canbe implemented using hardware, software, and/or a combination thereof.The system 100 can track and/or analyze user performance associated witha user activity involving one or more instruments 102 (e.g., golf clubs)that are swung by the user during the activity (e.g., a round of golf).The system 100 can include sensor modules 110 secured or fixed to theinstruments 102 and electronic devices 120 (e.g., mobile phones,tablets, laptops, etc.) that are configured to communicate with one ormore of the sensor modules 110. In some embodiments, the system 100 caninclude a remote user system 130 that can be accessible by users via acommunications network 140 as described in more detail herein.

The one or more instruments 102 can be, for example, golf clubs, bats(e.g., baseball, softball, cricket), hockey sticks (e.g., field and/orice hockey sticks), racquets (e.g., tennis, squash, racquet ball,badminton, ping pong, and/or any other types of racquets), long handledmallets (e.g., polo, croquet, and/or any other types of mallets), and/orany other suitable instruments that may be swung by a user during asporting activity, recreational activity, leisure activity, occupationalactivity, and the like.

In exemplary embodiments, each sensor modules 110 can detect when a useris preparing to swing a corresponding one of the instruments 102, candetect when the instruments is being swung, and/or can detect when theinstrument strikes an object. The sensor module 110 can use thisinformation to compute and/or identify performance characteristicsassociated with the user's use of the instruments 102. For embodimentsin which the sensor modules compute and/or identify the performancecharacteristics related to the swing, the sensor modules 110 can createpressure waves that propagate through the air and include informationassociated with the performance characteristics. The one or more of theelectronic devices 120 can detect the pressure waves and can extract theinformation from the pressure waves, which can be used by the one ormore electronic devices to monitor and/or track a user's performanceduring an activity. As one example, in some embodiments, the sensormodules 110 can detect and/or identify performance characteristicsincluding when the instruments 102 are swung, acceleration informationassociated with the swing, whether the instrument hits another object,and/or whether the swing and impact correspond to a swing that should orshould not be counted as a shot (e.g., a golf shot), and can create apressure wave that includes this information as described herein.

In some embodiments, the pressure waves created by the sensor modules110 can be used to identify the sensor module from which the pressurewaves propagate. For example, in some embodiments, the sensor modules110 can create a pressure waves having a specified frequencies that aredifferent from each other such that the frequency of the pressure wavescan be used to identify the sensor module from which a pressure wavepropagates (e.g., one sensor module can create a pressure wave having afirst frequency, another sensor module can create a pressure wave havinga second frequency, still another sensor module can create a pressurewave having a second frequency, and so on).

Additionally, the presence or absence of a pressure wave can be used bythe electronic device to identify information corresponding to a use ofthe instrument 102. For example, the sensor modules 110 can beconfigured to create a fixed, single frequency pressure wave afterdetecting an impact between the instruments 102 and an object. Absenceof the pressure is an indication that the sensor modules 110 have notdetected an impact. Upon detection of a pressure wave, the electronicdevice can identify that the sensor module 110 from which the pressurepropagates and can determine that the sensor module detected an impactbased on the presence/existence of the pressure wave.

In some embodiments, each sensor module 110 can be associated with aunique identifier. For example, in exemplary embodiments the uniqueidentifiers can be identification parameters stored in thestorage/memory of the sensor modules 110 (e.g., represented as a stringof binary values). The sensor modules 110 can include the uniqueidentifiers in pressure waves and the one or more electronic devices 120extract the unique identifiers from the pressures waves to associate thepressure waves with their corresponding sensor modules. As one example,the sensor modules can modulate the pressure waves to encode the uniqueidentifiers in the pressure waves and the electronic device(s) 120 candecode electrical signals corresponding to converted mechanical energyof the modulated pressure waves to extract the unique identifiers.Because the sensors modules 110 can encode the unique identifiers in thepressure waves, the pressures waves can be created to have the same orsubstantially similar (base/carrier) frequency.

The sensor modules 110 can be modulated to encode the pressure waveswith information corresponding to the use of the instruments 102 towhich the sensor modules 110 are affixed or within which the sensormodules 110 are embedded. As one example, after detecting an impactbetween the instrument 102 and an object, the sensor module 110 cancreate a modulated pressure wave (e.g., using amplitude modulation,phase modulation, and/or frequency modulation) having encoded therein anindication that the sensor module 110 detected an impact. Upon detectionof this modulated pressure wave, the electronic device(s) can decode themodulated pressure wave and determine that the sensor module detected animpact based on processing of electrical signals derived from thedecoded pressure wave.

The one or more electronic devices 120 can use the performancecharacteristics to monitor and/or track the user's performance during anactivity, and to render one or more graphical user interfaces to displaythe performance characteristics as well as other data maintained,generated, and/or received by the one or more electronic devices 120.For example, the one or more electronic devices 120 can be programmedand/or configured to identify a location of the user when one of theinstruments 102 is swung and/or contacts an object (e.g., a ball, theground, or any other object) during a swing. In exemplary embodiments,the location of the electronic devices 120 (e.g., a longitude andlatitude) can be determined using a global positioning system (GPS)receiver within the electronic devices 120 that is in communication witha GPS satellite 150.

In exemplary embodiments, the one or more electronic devices 120 can beprogrammed and/or configured to associate the pressure waves and/orunique identifiers of each of the sensor modules 110 with acorresponding one of the instruments 102 to which the sensor modules areaffixed or within which the sensor modules 110 are embedded such thatwhen the one or more electronic devices 120 detects a pressure wavepropagating from one of the sensor modules 110, the one or moreelectronic devices 120 can determine which of the instruments 102 wasused. For example, in exemplary embodiments, the sensor modules 110 andthe electronic device(s) 120 can be configured to be associated suchthat each of the sensor modules 110 can be recognized by the one or moreelectronic devices 120. During a recognition process, one of the sensormodules 110 affixed to or embedded within one of the instruments 102 canbe instructed to create a pressure wave (e.g., having a specifiedfrequency or being modulated to encode a unique identifier) and the oneor more electronic devices 120 can be instructed to detect the pressurewave, upon detection of the pressure wave, the electronic device can beprogrammed to associate a parameter or characteristic of the pressurewave (e.g., a frequency of the pressure wave or a unique identifierencoded in the pressure wave) with the instrument to which the sensormodule is affixed or within which the sensor module is embedded. Thus,after the recognition process, each time the one or more electronicdevices receive the pressure wave from the sensor module, the electronicdevice can associate the pressure wave with the instrument.

The remote system 130 can include one or more computing devicesoperating as servers to manage data/information regarding a user'sprofile, account, performance, and/or any other data/informationassociated with the user. In exemplary embodiments, the electronicdevice(s) 120 can communicate with the remote system 130 to transmit andreceive information using, e.g., electromagnetic radiation, such asradio frequency communications. As one example, the remote system 130can be programmed and/or configured to receive user performanceinformation from the electronic device(s) 120 and to process and/oranalyze the performance information to determine statistics regardingthe users performance and/or to provide an analysis regarding a user'smechanics (e.g., a swing analysis). Some statistics and swing analysisinformation that can be determined by the remote system 130 can includea swing tempo, swing velocity, swing force, club face angle, swingplane, and/or impact force with which the instrument strikes or willstrike an object, and/or any other swing parameters as well as clubconsistency (e.g., variations in shot distances), putting stats (e.g.,average putts per hole, 2-putt percentage, 3+ putt-percentage, 1 puttper round, etc.), scrambling statistics (e.g., the golfer's ability toget par when hitting the green in regulation is missed), sand saves(e.g., the ability of a golfer to get par when the ball lands in abunker during a hole), fairway hits (e.g., percentage of times a golferhits the fairway when the golf ball is hit from the tee), and the like.

Subsequent to determining the statistics and/or providing the analysis,the remote system 130 can transmit the statistics and/or analysis to theelectronic devices 120, which can be programmed to display thestatistics and/or analysis to the users. As another example, the remotesystem 130 can be programmed and/or configured to maintain golf courseinformation, such as names of golf courses, geographic maps of golfcourses including hole locations, a par for the holes of the golfcourses, and/other suitable golf course information. The remote system130 can transmit the golf course information to the electronic devices120 upon request and/or can transmit the golf course informationautomatically. The golf course information can allow the electronicdevices 120 to display the golf course information to the users, use thegolf course information for automatically determining a user'sperformance on a golf course, and/or overlay the users performance onthe golf course information rendered on a display.

In one exemplary embodiment, the system 100 can be implemented tomonitor and/or track a user playing a round of golf. For example, theinstruments 102 can be golf clubs associated with a user, each of thegolf clubs can have a sensor module 110 affixed thereto or embeddedtherein, and the electronic device(s) 120 can be a mobile phone or anyother suitable portable electronic device that can be carried by theuser that is capable of detecting pressure waves propagating in the air.The electronic device can also be configured to determine its geographiclocation (e.g., using GPS). For example, each sensor module 110 can beaffixed to or embedded in a proximal end of a golf club where the handleor grip is disposed. The user can interact with the user's electronicdevice 120 to set up the system 100 for use with the golf clubs. Forexample, the electronic device 120 can be programmed and/or configuredto prompt the user to enter information about the golf clubs when itdetects pressure waves propagating from the sensor modules 110. Uponcompletion of the set up process, the electronic device 120 associateseach of the sensor modules 110 with the corresponding golf clubs towhich the sensor modules 110 are affixed or within which the sensormodules 110 are embedded (e.g., based on a frequency of the pressurewave or based on unique identifiers included in the pressure wave), suchthat when the electronic device 120 detects a subsequent pressure wavepropagating from one of the sensor modules 110, the electronic device120 can be programmed to identify the golf club used by the user basedon the detection of the pressure wave.

As the user plays a round of golf, the system 100 can monitor and/ortrack which golf clubs were used by the golfer for which holes andshots, a distance the golf ball traveled for each shot, geographiclocations of the user, holes that have been completed by the user, holesthat the user still has to complete, a golf score of the user, and/orother performance information associated with the round of golf beingplayed by the user.

The electronic device 120 can store the performance informationassociated with the golf round and/or can render one or more GUIs thatcan be viewed by the user during and/or after the golf round. In someembodiments, the electronic device 120 can transmit the performanceinformation to the remote system 130 for further processing and/orstorage. The user may access the remote system 130 through theelectronic device 120 and/or another electronic device (e.g., a laptop,desktop, or personal computer) to review, modify, update, delete, share,and the like, the performance information captured by the system 100.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a sensor module 200 that can beaffixed to an instrument in accordance with the present disclosure. Forexample, the sensor module 200 can be implemented as an embodiment ofthe sensor modules 110 depicted in FIG. 1. The sensor module 200 caninclude a housing portion 210 and a fastening portion 220. The housingportion 210 can house sensor module circuitry 212 that can be programmedand/or configured to perform one or more operations, tasks, functions,and/or processes described herein. In some embodiments, the sensormodule circuitry 212 itself can form a sensor module. That is, inexemplary embodiments, the sensor module substantially of the sensormodule circuitry 212 (e.g., devoid of the housing portion 210 andfastening portion 220) The fastening portion 220 can be configured tosecure or affix the sensor module 200 to an instrument (e.g., instrument102). For example, the fastening portion 220 can include a shaft 222having an external thread 224 that can be used to threadingly engage aninstrument.

As shown in FIG. 2, in exemplary embodiments of the fastening portion220, the shaft 222 can extend along a longitudinal axis L from a firstproximal end 226 to a second distal end 228 defining a length 225 of thefastening portion 220. The shaft 222 can have a generally conicalconfiguration for which the outer surface 230 of the shaft 222 generallytapers inwardly along the longitudinal axis L from the first proximalend 226 to the second distal end 228.

The external thread 224 can be disposed circumferentially about theouter surface 230 of the shaft 222 along the longitudinal axis to form ahelical or spiral ridge around the shaft 222. The external thread 224can have a trapezoidal thread form (i.e., the thread 224 can have atrapezoidal cross-sectional shape), a triangular thread form (i.e., thethread 224 can have a triangular cross-sectional shape), and/or can takeany other suitable form or shape. The thread 224 can generally extendradially outward from the outer surface 230 of the shaft 220 from a root234 of the thread 224 to a crest 236 of the thread 224. While thefastening portion 220 has been illustrated as including thread 224,exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented usingother fastening structures in conjunction with the threads 224 orinstead of the threads 224. For example, in some embodiments, thefastening portion 220 can include one or more barbs, hooks, spikes, orany other suitable structures that protrude from the outer surface 230and are operable to generally secure the sensor module 200 to a swinginginstrument (e.g., to the grip of a golf club).

FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of sensor module circuitry 212embedded in an instrument 300 in accordance with the present disclosure,where the sensor module circuit 212 forms a sensor module. In someembodiments, the sensor module circuitry 212 can be housed in a housingthat is embedded within the instrument 300. As shown in FIG. 3, thesensor module circuitry 212 can be disposed within a shaft 305 theinstruments 300. For example, the instrument 300 can be a golf club andthe sensor module circuitry 212 can be disposed in the shaft of theclub, for example, near a proximal end 302 of the golf club, where thehandle or grip 304 is disposed.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the sensormodule circuitry 212 that can be disposed within the sensor module 200shown in FIG. 2 and/or embedded within the instrument 300 shown in FIG.3. The sensor module circuitry 212 can include one or more sensors 402(e.g., accelerometer 401, gyroscope 403, and/or any other suitablesensor), a electromechanical device 406, a storage device 408, controlcircuitry 410, memory 412 (e.g., RAM), a power source 414, and a switch415.

The one or more sensors 402 can sense/detect one or more parametersassociated with a use of the instruments, such as an acceleration,velocity, angular acceleration, orientation, position, impacts betweenthe instruments and objects, and the like. The one or more sensors 402can generate an output, e.g., including one or more sensor signals(e.g., electrical signals or otherwise), to the control circuitry 410.While the one or more sensors 402 are illustrated as including theaccelerometer 401 and/or the gyroscope 403, the one or more sensors 402can include more or fewer sensors. For example, in exemplaryembodiments, the one or more sensors 402 can include any one of theaccelerometer 401, gyroscope 403, and/or any suitable sensor, such as amagnetometer, pressure sensor, and/or capacitive sensor; any combinationof sensors 402, such as any combination of the accelerometer 401,gyroscope 403, magnetometer, capacitive sensor, pressure sensor, etc.)

The multi-axis accelerometer 401 can include three or more axes ofmeasurement and can output one or more signals corresponding to eachaxes of measurement and/or can output one or more signals correspondingto an aggregate or combination of the three axes of measurement. Forexample, in some embodiments, the accelerometer 401 can be a three-axisor three-dimensional accelerometer that includes three outputs (e.g.,the accelerometer can output X, Y, and Z data). The accelerometer 401can detect and monitor a magnitude and direction of acceleration, e.g.,as a vector quantity, and/or can sense an orientation, vibration, and/orshock. For example, in exemplary embodiments, the accelerometer 401 canbe used by the sensor module circuitry 212 determine an orientationand/or acceleration of an instrument to which the sensor moduleincluding the sensor module circuitry 212 is affixed. In someembodiments, the gyroscope 403 can be used instead or in addition to theaccelerometer 401, to determine an orientation of an instrument to whichthe sensor module including the sensor module circuitry 212 is affixedand/or embedded. The orientation of the instrument can be used todetermine when the user is preparing to swing the instrument and/or toidentify and discriminate between different phases of a swing (e.g.,back swing, forward swing). The acceleration can be used to determinewhen an impact occurs during a swing, a speed of the swing, a tempo ofthe swing, and/or any other motion parameters associated with swingingthe instrument.

The acceleration and/or velocity can be used to identify anddiscriminate between different phases of a swing and determine whetheran impact between the instrument and an object constitutes a shot. Forexample, during the backswing phase, a positive linear acceleration canbe detected by the accelerometer. Approximately midway through thebackswing, the velocity curve changes direction when the club slows downas it reaches the top of the backswing. When the curve changesdirection, the acceleration is zero and linear velocity begins todecrease resulting in deceleration. At the end of the backswing phase,the club is temporarily static as the golf club changes direction, andtherefore, no velocity is detected based on an output of theaccelerometer 401. The downswing begins from the top of the backswingand as the club begins to move in a positive direction towards the ball,the linear acceleration increases. As the velocity approaches a constantvalue the rate of acceleration slowly begins to decrease and thedownswing phase ends when an initial discontinuity in motion is detectedby the accelerometer. This discontinuity marks the impact phase of thegolf swing and the beginning of the follow through phase of the golfswing.

The electromechanical device 406 can be configured to generate pressurewaves that propagate through air. The pressure waves can be formed bymovement (e.g. vibrations) of the electromechanical device 406 inresponse to electrical control signals (e.g., received from the controlcircuitry 410). The pressure waves generated by the movement of theelectromechanical device 406 can form alternating compressions andrarefactions in the air with a frequency (e.g., measured in hertz),amplitude/pressure (e.g., measured in decibels), and phase (e.g.,measured in radian or degrees). In exemplary embodiments, theelectromechanical device 406 can be a loud/audio speaker or apiezoelectric device. The pressure waves generated by theelectromechanical device 406 can be sound waves. The pressure wavesgenerated by the electromechanical device 406 can be detected by one ormore electronic devices (e.g., electronic devices 120) to conveyinformation to the electronic devices.

In some embodiments, the electromechanical device 406 can be configuredand/or controlled to generate pressure waves that have a frequency thatis above that which can be heard or perceived by some, most, or allhumans (i.e. inaudible). As one example, in some embodiments, theelectromechanical device 406 can generate pressure waves having afrequency of greater than approximately fifteen kilohertz or greaterthan approximately twenty kilohertz. As another example, in someembodiments, the electromechanical device can generate pressure waveshaving a frequency of approximately twenty kilohertz to approximatelytwenty-five kilohertz. As another example, the electromechanical device406 can generate pressure waves having a frequency of approximately tenkilohertz to approximately sixty kilohertz. By generating pressure wavesat a frequency that is above that which cannot be heard or perceived bysome, most, or all humans (i.e. inaudible), exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure advantageously allow the sensor modules (i.e. via theelectromechanical device) to communicate with a remote electronic device(i.e. via an electroacoustic transducer of the electronic device)without distracting a user before, during, and/or after swinging orotherwise using the instruments to which the sensor modules are affixedor embedded and/or or affecting a performance of the user before,during, and/or after swinging or otherwise using the instruments towhich the sensor modules are affixed or embedded.

In some embodiments, the electromechanical device 406 can be configuredand/or controlled to generate pressure waves that have a frequency thatis within a frequency range that can be heard or perceived by some,most, or all humans (i.e. audible). For example, in some embodiments,the frequency of the pressure waves can be less than, e.g.,approximately ten kilohertz, approximately fifteen kilohertz, or lessthan approximately twenty kilohertz. In some embodiments, to reduceand/or minimize distractions to a user, a pressure wave generated at afrequency that is audible to a user can be generated for a shortduration of time (e.g., seconds or less), can be generated after thegolf swing is completed, and/or can be generated to have an amplitudethat results in a low decibel level to minimize and/or reducedistractions to a user.

In some embodiments, the electromechanical device 406 can be configuredand/or controlled to generate pressure waves having audible or inaudiblefrequency that convey information that can be extracted by an electronicdevice that is separate, distinct, and spaced away from the sensormodule. In some embodiments, the parameters of the pressure wave (e.g.,amplitude, phase, frequency) can include the information that can beextracted by the electronic device. In some embodiments, the pressurewave can be modulated (e.g., using amplitude modulation, phasemodulation, and/or frequency modulation) to encode information, whichcan be extracted by the electronic device. In some embodiments, thetiming of the generation of the pressure waves can be controlled suchthat the pressure waves are generated after an impact between the golfclub and an object is detected, after a golf swing is completed, and/orat any other suitable time. In some embodiments, the duration of thepressure wave (whether it has a frequency that is audible or inaudible)can be controlled. For example, in some embodiments, a pressure wavehaving a duration that is less than one second can be generated (e.g., afraction of a second) and the pressure wave can include information thatcan be extracted by the electronic device, such as which sensor modulegenerated the pressure wave, whether an impact between the golf club andan object was detected by the sensor module, swing analysis information,and/or any other suitable information. By generating a pressure wavethat has a duration of a fraction of a second, the sensor module canreduce/minimize power consumption, and for embodiments that generatepressure waves having a frequency that is audible can minimize or reducethe likelihood that the pressure wave will distract a user.

The storage device 408 can include any suitable, non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, e.g., read-only memory (ROM), erasableprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically-erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory, and the like. In exemplary embodiments, a swingmonitoring system 450 can be embodied as computer-readable/executableprogram code stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storagedevice 408 and implemented using any suitable, high or low levelcomputing language and/or platform, such as, e.g., Java, C, C++, C#,assembly code, machine readable language, and the like.

The memory 412 can include any suitable non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium (e.g., random access memory (RAM), such as, e.g., staticRAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), and the like). In some embodiments, thedata/information and/or executable code for implementing the system 450can be retrieved from the storage device 408 and copied to memory 412during and/or upon implementation of the processes described herein.Once the data/information has be used, updated, modified, replaced, andthe like, the data/information may be copied from memory 412 to thestorage device 408.

The control circuitry 410 can include one or more logic-based devices,such as logic gates, flip-flops, field programmable logic arrays, timinggenerators, processing devices (e.g., microprocessors, digital signalprocessors, graphical processing units, microcontrollers), and/or anyother suitable logic-based devices. In some embodiments, the processingdevice 411, memory 412, and possibly the storage 408, can be integratedin a single package or can be packaged separately and electricallycoupled to each other through traces in a printed circuit board. Inexemplary embodiments, at least a portion of the control circuitry 410can be implemented as a processing device 411, which can include anysuitable single- or multiple-core microprocessor of any suitablearchitecture that is capable of implementing and/or executing the system450. The processing device 411 can be programmed and/or configured toexecute the system 450 to implement one or more processes for monitoringand/or tracking usage of instruments by a user and to control theelectromechanical device 406 to generate pressure waves corresponding tothe usage of the instruments. The processing device 411 can retrieveinformation/data from, and store information/data to, the storage device408 and/or memory 412. For example, user performance information, golfcourse information, performance statistics, user profiles, performanceanalysis, and/or any other suitable information/data for implemented thesystem 450 or that may be used by the system 450 may be stored on thestorage device 408 and/or a memory 412. Some examples of performanceinformation and/or performance analysis can include, for example, dataoutput by the one or more sensors 402, an indication of a detectedimpact (e.g., a determined based on the data output by the one or moresensors 402), a golf shot (e.g., a determined based on the data outputby the one or more sensors 402), a golf score, a swing tempo, swingvelocity, swing force, club face angle, swing plane, and/or impact forcewith which the instrument strikes or will strike an object, and/or anyother swing parameters as well as club consistency (e.g., variations inshot distances), putting stats (e.g., average putts per hole, 2-puttpercentage, 3+ putt-percentage, 1 putt per round, etc.), scramblingstatistics (e.g., the golfer's ability to get par when hitting the greenin regulation is missed), sand saves (e.g., the ability of a golfer toget par when the ball lands in a bunker during a hole), fairway hits(e.g., percentage of times a golfer hits the fairway when the golf ballis hit from the tee), and the like.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing device 411 can be programmed toexecute the system 450 to receive and process information/data from theone or more sensors 402, storage device 408, and/or memory 412; can beprogrammed to output control signals to the electromechanical device 406to control the electromechanical device 406 to generate pressure wavesto convey information/data to the electronic devices based on theexecution of the system 450; and can be programmed to outputdata/information to the storage device 408 and/or the memory 412 basedon the execution of the system 450. As one example, when the one or moresensors 402 includes the accelerometer 401, the processing device 411can receive information/data output from the accelerometer correspondingto a direction force along one or more of the axes of the accelerometer401, and can control the electromechanical device 406 to generatepressure waves to convey information/data associated with the output ofthe accelerometer 401, to an electronic device (e.g., the electronicdevice(s) 120). As another example, the processing device 411 canreceive information/data output from the accelerometer 401 correspondingto a directional force along one or more of the axes of theaccelerometer 401; can process the information/data to generate anindicator associated with an impact between the instrument to which thesensor module is secured and an object; and can control theelectromechanical device 406 to generate a pressure wave in response todetection of the impact to indicate the impact to the electronic device.

In exemplary embodiments, the control circuitry 410 (e.g., via theprocessing device 411) can control the electromechanical device 406 togenerate a continuous pressure wave that propagates through air at afrequency, amplitude, and phase. An electronic device can include atransducer for receiving pressure wave and converting the pressure waveto electrical signals. The electronic device can determine from whichsensor the pressure wave propagates based on the frequency and candetermine based on detection of the pressure wave that an impact betweenthe instrument to which the sensor module is affixed or embedded wasdetected by the sensor module.

In exemplary embodiments, the control circuitry 410 (e.g., via theprocessing device 411) can control the electromechanical device 406 togenerate a pressure wave having a modulate frequency, amplitude, orphase to encode information/data generated, derived, or output from theone or more sensors 402 as well as information/data associated with thesensor module. For example, the control circuitry 410 (e.g., via theprocessing device 411) can control the electromechanical device 406 togenerate a pressure wave using frequency modulation, phase modulation,amplitude modulation, and/or a combination of frequency modulation,phase modulation, amplitude modulation. The modulated pressure wave canencode multi-symbol string (e.g., binary or greater) that can beextracted and interpreted by the electronic device. The information/dataencoded in the modulated pressure wave can include an identificationparameter that identifies which sensor module generated the pressurewave, an indication that the sensor module detected an impact betweenthe instrument to which the sensor module is affixed or embedded, rawsensor data, swing information derived from raw sensor data, and/or anyother suitable information/data. An electronic device can detect themodulated pressure wave via a transducer and can determine from whichsensor module the pressure wave propagates by demodulating the modulatedpressure wave (e.g., after the modulated pressure wave is converted toelectrical signals by a transducer of the electronic device) andextracting the identification parameter included in the modulatedpressure wave, and/or can extract any other information/data from thedemodulated pressure wave. In some embodiments, the electronic devicecan determine that an impact occurred between the instrument to whichthe sensor module is affixed or embedded and an object based ondetection of the modulated pressure wave from the sensor module (afterassociating the detected modulated pressure wave with the sensor modulebased on the identification parameter that is extracted from themodulated pressure wave. In some embodiments, the electronic device candetermine that an impact occurred between the instrument to which thesensor module is affixed or embedded and an object by extracting anindication of the impact encoded in the modulated pressure wave. Thus,in some embodiments, information/data can be determined or derived basedon the presence of the pressure wave itself (whether modulated or not);in some embodiments, information/data can be embedded in and extractedfrom the modulated pressure wave; and/or in some embodiments, someinformation/data can be embedded in the modulated pressure wave and someinformation/data can be determined or derived based on the presence ofthe modulate pressure itself. In some embodiments, the electronic devicecan determine that an impact occurred between the instrument to whichthe sensor module is affixed or embedded and an object by extracting anindication of the impact encoded in the modulated pressure wave.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry 410 can include moduleactivation circuitry 413, which can receive one or more output signals(e.g., X, Y, Z data) from the accelerometer 401 (or gyroscope 403) asinputs to the module activation circuitry 413 and can process thesignals to determine whether the instrument to which the sensor moduleis affixed is within a specified addressing range for a specified periodof time. In exemplary embodiments, the module activity circuitry 413 canoutput one or more signals to the processing device 411 in response tothe processing of the signals from the accelerometer 401 (or gyroscope403). The processing device 411 can use the signals from the moduleactivation circuitry to change a mode of operation of the sensor modulecircuitry (e.g., from a sleep mode of operation to a normal mode ofoperation or vice versa). While exemplary embodiments have beenillustrated to include module activation circuitry, those skilled in theart will recognize that, in exemplary embodiments, the processing device411 may be programmed and/or configured to process the output signals ofthe accelerometer 401 (or gyroscope 403) (e.g., without the moduleactivation circuitry 413) to determine when to change the mode ofoperation of the sensor module circuitry.

While a non-limiting embodiment of the control circuitry has beenillustrated as including a processing device, memory, and storage,exemplary embodiments of the control circuitry can be implementedwithout a processing device, memory, and/or storage. As one example, thecontrol circuitry can include one or more logic-gates operativelycoupled to each other to form a conditional logic circuit that outputs acontrol signal to the electromechanical device 406 in response todetection of one or more outputs from the one or more sensors 402. Forexample, during a golf swing the accelerometer can output a first peakacceleration associated with a back swing, which can cause a firstcondition of the conditional logic circuit to be satisfied; can output asecond peak acceleration associated with a forward swing, which cancause a second condition of the conditional logic circuit to besatisfied; and can output a third peak acceleration associated with animpact, which can cause a third condition of the conditional logiccircuit to be satisfied. In response to satisfaction of the first,second, and third conditions (e.g., in that sequence), the conditionallogic circuit can output a control signal to the electromechanicaldevice 406 to generate a pressure wave (modulated or not). As anotherexample, as shown in FIG. 4B, the control circuitry 410 can includeanalog circuit elements, e.g., in the form of an amplified analog filter470 that receives an output from the one or more sensors 402 followed byan analog comparator 472 driving an analog oscillator 474 to control theelectromechanical device 406 to generate a pressure wave, e.g., when animpact is occurring or occurred. The comparator 472 can receive as, aninput, an output of the filter and a reference generated by referencesource 476. The output of the comparator 472 can activate the oscillatoror selectively control a connection between the oscillator and theelectromechanical device 406 (e.g., a switch) to control pressure wavegeneration by the electromechanical device 406.

The power source 414 can be implemented as a battery or capacitiveelements configured to store an electric charge. As one example, in someembodiments, the power source can be a button cell lithium battery, suchas a CR2032 battery, a CR2354 battery, or any other suitable powersource. In some embodiments, the battery may be replaceable by the user.As another example, in some embodiments, the power source 414 can be arechargeable power source, such as a battery or one or more capacitiveelements configured to be recharged via a connection to an externalpower supply and/or to be recharged by an energy harvesting device. Asone example, the rechargeable power source can be recharged using solarenergy (e.g., by incorporating photovoltaic or solar cells on thehousing on the sensor module), through physical movement (e.g., byincorporating a piezo-electric elements in the sensor module), and/orthrough any other suitable energy harvesting techniques using anysuitable energy harvesting devices.

The switch 415 can be operatively coupled to the processing device 411to trigger one or more operations by the processing device 410. In someembodiments, the switch 415 can be implemented as a momentary pushbutton, rocker, and/or toggle switch that can be activated by a user.For example, in exemplary embodiments, the switch 415 can be activatedby the user to instruct the processing device 411 to control theelectromechanical device to generate a pressure wave during anassociation or initial recognition process to associate the sensormodule with an electronic device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the swingmonitoring system 450 that can be executed by embodiments of the presentdisclosure that include a processing device 411 to facilitate monitoringand/or detecting swing events and/or impacts between an instrument andan object. The system 450 can include a power management engine 510, aswing analysis engine 520, and an impact detection engine 530.

The power management engine 510 can be programmed and/or configured tomonitor and/or manage power consumption of the sensor module circuitry212. For example, exemplary embodiments of the power management engine510 can be configured control an operational state of the sensor modulecircuitry 212 so that the circuitry 212 can have different modes ofoperation, such as a sleep mode of operation and/or a normal mode ofoperation. The power management engine 510 can be programmed and/orconfigured to switch the operational state of the circuitry 212 betweenthe different operation modes based on, for example, an orientation ofthe sensor module, acceleration of the sensor, impact between theinstrument and an object, and/or a specified time period after anoccurrence of one or more events, as determine by the circuitry 212disposed within a sensor module.

In exemplary embodiments, the power management engine 510 can place thecircuitry in the sleep mode of operation until the instrument to whichthe sensor module, including the circuitry 212, is affixed has aspecified orientation, as detected by the accelerometer (and/orgyroscope). For example, for embodiments in which the sensor module isaffixed to or embedded within a golf club, the sensor(s) 402 (e.g., theaccelerometer 401 and/or gyroscope 403) can be configured to detect whenthe golf club is oriented in an initial swing position by a user (e.g.,the addressing phase of a golf swing). The sensor(s) (e.g., theaccelerometer 401 and/or gyroscope 403) can output a mode signalcorresponding to the control circuitry when instrument has the specifiedorientation. In response to the mode signal from the sensor(s) (e.g.,the accelerometer 401 and/or the gyroscope 403), the power managementengine 510 can be executed by the control circuitry to transition thecircuitry 212 from the sleep mode to the normal mode of operation, atwhich time the swing analysis engine 520 and impact detection engine 530can be executed. In exemplary embodiments, the power management engine510 can be executed by the processing device 411 to transition from thenormal mode to the sleep mode based on, for example, an amount of timethat elapsed since the circuitry 212 entered the normal mode ofoperation, an amount of time that elapsed after a completed swing hasbeen detected, an amount of time that elapsed after the circuitry 212generates pressure waves related to the swing event, and the like.

The swing analysis engine 520 can be programmed and/or configured tomonitor a swing event associated with the instrument to which the sensormodule is affixed, or within which the sensor module is embedded, andcan be executed by the processing device 411 to capture and/or storeinformation/data related to a swing of the instrument by a user upondetection by the circuitry 212 that the instrument has an initial swingorientation (e.g., the addressing phase of the golf swing). For example,the accelerometer 401 can output one or more signals (e.g., X, Y, Zdata) to the processing device 411 as the instrument is being swung thatcorrespond to a position, orientation, and acceleration of theinstrument and the processing device can execute the swing analysisengine 520 to capture the position, orientation, acceleration, anddirection of acceleration of the instrument during the swing event. Theswing analysis engine 520 can be executed by the processing device todetermine and/or discriminate between different phases of the swing(e.g., addressing, back swing, down swing, impact, and follow through),a swing tempo, swing velocity, swing force, club face angle, swingplane, and/or impact force with which the instrument strikes or willstrike an object, and/or any other swing parameters.

The impact detection engine 530 can be programmed and/or configured tomonitor and/or determine when the instrument strikes an object, e.g.,during a swing event. In exemplary embodiments, the impact detectionengine 530 can be executed by the processing device 411 to specify avalid window of a swing event over which an impact can be detectedand/or can process one or more signals output by the accelerometer 401and received by the processing device. For example, in some embodiments,the impact detection engine 530 can be programmed and/or configured todetect impacts between the instrument and an object during the downswingphase, the impact phase, and/or the follow-through phase of a golfswing. If an impact detection does not occur within the window definedby the impact detection engine 530, the impact detection engine 530 canignore the impact.

In some embodiments, the impact detection engine 530 can be programmedand/or configured to determine when an impact occurs based on an outputfrom the sensor(s) 402 (e.g., the accelerometer 401). In someembodiments, the engine 530 can analyze a movement (e.g. acceleration)of the instrument for a predetermined time before the impact and apredetermined time after the impact. Based on this analysis, in someembodiments, the impact detection engine 530 can determine whether agolf shot occurred or whether there was a false detection. For example,the acceleration characteristics of the downswing phase andfollow-through phase immediately before and immediately after impact,respectively, can be defined and the impact detection engine 530 can beexecuted by the processing device 411 to determine whether the measuredaccelerations during the predetermined time periods correspond to theacceleration characteristics of a golf swing.

In exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the impact detectionengine 530 can be programmed and/or configured to suppress or ignoredetection of false positive golf shots based on one or more criteria.The criteria can be used in aggregate and/or combination to detect falsepositive different circumstances or events to provide for robust andaccurate detection of golf shots.

In some embodiments, the impact detection engine 530 can be executed bythe processing device to suppress detection of a false positive golfshot when, for example, a golf club is dropped (e.g., into a golf bag)by analyzing the x, y and z accelerometer output values before adetected impact (e.g., motion criteria). If the x, y, z accelerometervalues are sufficiently small, the impact detection engine 530 can beprogrammed to assume that the club was dropped (e.g., into a bag). Ifthe “wakeup” or “sleep” states are triggered (which can mean that thegolf club was turned upright after the shot, the false positivesuppression can be canceled and the shot can be recognized. Thisapproach advantageously allows for the recognition of very small swings(e.g. such as chip shots).

In some embodiments, detection of a false positive golf shot can bedetected by the impact detection engine 530 based on motion by samplingand/or analyzing the accelerometer data for a predetermined time periodafter the impact (e.g., time criteria). For example, in someembodiments, the seconds between approximately the 3rd second afterimpact and the 11th second after impact can be sampled and analyzed. Ifthe values output by the accelerometer are sufficiently small, theimpact detection engine 530 can be programmed to determine, for example,that the club was thrown on the ground and the detected impact can besuppressed or ignored.

In some embodiments, a false positive can be suppressed or ignored basedon a time between detected impacts (e.g., time criteria). As an example,the time criteria can be a time period that begins when a first impactis detected. In some embodiments, one of the detected impacts can becounted as the golf shot and the other detected impacts can during thetime period can be ignored. As another example, the time criteria can bea frequency are rate between consecutive detected impacts such that ifimpacts occur at a frequency or rate that exceeds a threshold frequencyor rate, all but one of the impacts can be counted and the other impactscan be ignored.

For embodiments in which the impact detection engine 530 suppresses orignores false positive golf shots, the processing device 410 of thesensor module circuitry 212 can execute the impact detection engine 530to indicate detection of a golf shot. For example, in some embodiments,the processing device can be programmed and/or configured to control theelectromechanical device to generate pressure waves indicating that agolf shot occurred. In some embodiments, the processing device can beprogrammed and/or configured to control the electromechanical device togenerate pressure waves including the accelerometer data and/or otherswing information. In some embodiments, when the electronic devicedetects a pressure wave including acceleration data and/or swinginformation, the electronic device can be programmed to automaticallyassociate the received data/information included in the pressure waveswith a golf shot such that the pressure waves propagating from thecircuitry 212 does not require a specific indicator that a golf shot wasdetected. In the event that an impact processed by the impact detectionengine 530 is determined to be a false positive, in some embodiments,the processing device can execute the engine 530 to delete, ignore, orotherwise disregard the impact such that no pressure waves aregenerated. In some embodiments, the circuitry 212 can be programmed togenerate pressure waves including the acceleration information and anindication that the detected impact was a false positive so that theelectronic device can process or ignore the received data/informationbased on the indication.

While an exemplary embodiment of the system 450 has been illustratedwith the power management engine 510, the swing analysis engine 520, andthe impact detection engine 530, those skilled in the art will recognizethat engines 510, 520, and/or 530 can be integrated with each other toform a single engine. Furthermore, while an exemplary embodiment of thesystem 450 includes the engines 510, 520, and 530, those skilled in theart will recognize that each of the engines 510, 520, and 530 can beimplemented as several different engines such that the operation of theeach of the engines 510, 520, and 530 can be performed by a combinationof engines.

While the engines 510, 520, and 530 are illustrated as being resident inthe sensor module, exemplary embodiments of the present are not limitedto this configuration. For example, in exemplary embodiments, theoperation, functionality, and/or processes of the engines 510, 520,and/or 530 can be resident on and/or implemented by the electronicdevice.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary range of orientations of a golf club 600(e.g., an embodiment of the instruments 102) that can be identified byembodiments of the circuitry 212 as an initial swing position of thegolf club 600 (e.g., the addressing phase of a golf swing) and can beutilized by the circuitry to transition from the sleep mode of operationto the normal mode of operation. To reduce overall power consumptionand/or extend the useable life of a nonrenewable power source that canbe utilized by the circuitry 212, the range of orientations can bedefined to ensure that the circuitry 212 operates in the normal mode ofoperations for as little time as possible by making the transition fromthe sleep mode to the normal conditional upon detection of theorientation of the instrument within the defined range of orientations.In the present embodiment, the range of orientations of the golf club600 can be an acceptance cone 602 such that when the golf club has anorientation that is within the acceptance cone 602, the golf clubsatisfies a condition for transitioning between the sleep mode ofoperation and the normal mode of operation.

As described herein, the accelerometer (and/or gyroscope) of embodimentsof the circuitry 212 can include three or more axes of measurement andcan output one or more signals corresponding to each axes of measurementand/or can output one or more signals corresponding to an aggregate ofcombination of the three axes of measurement. The acceptance cone 602can be defined by specifying a minimum directional force (z min) (e.g.,having a magnitude and a direction) sensed by the accelerometer (due togravity) along a z-axis 604 (i.e. the vertical axis) when the head 606of the golf club 600 is oriented downwardly at an apex 608 of theacceptance cone 602 and a grip 610 of the golf club 600 is orientedabove the head and at a base 612 of the acceptance cone. A maximumdirectional force along the z-axis (z max) can be measured when a shaft614 of the golf club 600 is parallel to the z-axis (e.g., perpendicularto an x-axis and a y-axis). The minimum direction force (z min) cancorrespond to an angle θ of the golf club relative to the z-axis 604. Inexemplary embodiments, the angle θ can be referred to as an addressingangle and can be approximately 25 degrees to approximately 80 degreesrelative to the z-axis 604 (e.g., measured from perpendicular to theground).

When the orientation of the head 606 and the grip 610 are inversed suchthat the grip is disposed downwardly at the apex of the acceptance cone602 and the head 606 is disposed above the grip 610 and at the base 612,the directional force along the z-axis 604 can have an identicalmagnitude, but a different directional component as the originalorientation. Embodiments of the circuitry 212 can be configured suchthat this inverse orientation does not satisfy the conditions of theacceptance cone 602. In exemplary embodiments, the parameters of theacceptance cone 602 (e.g., minimum directional force along the z-axis)can be implemented using software (e.g., the battery management engine410) and/or hardware components (e.g., the activation circuitry 413).

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary hardware implementation of themodule activation circuitry 413 in accordance with exemplary embodimentsof the present disclosure. As described herein, the sensor module canremain in a sleep mode until the sensor module detects that aninstrument to which the sensor module is attached is oriented within anacceptance cone. The circuitry 413 can be used by the sensor module todetermine whether the instrument is within the acceptance cone and canoutput a signal to the processing device of the sensor module circuitry,which can be programmed and/or configured to transition from a sleepmode of operation to a normal mode of operation.

As shown in FIG. 7, the activation circuitry 413 can receive an outputsignal Z_(O) from the accelerometer 402 corresponding to a sensed forcealong the z-axis of the accelerometer included in the sensor modulecircuitry. The output signal Z_(O) can be passed through a high passfilter 702, and can subsequently be received as an input by comparators704 and 706. The comparator 704 can compare the filtered output signalto a maximum threshold value (Th max) and the comparator 706 can comparethe output signal Z_(O) to a minimum threshold value (Th min). Theoutputs 708 and 710 of the comparators 704 and 706, respectively, can beinput to an AND gate 712. If the outputs 708 and 710 of the comparators704 and 706, respectively, are both a Boolean one (e.g., if the outputs708 and 710 have voltage above a specified threshold voltage), the ANDgate 712 can output a trigger. Otherwise, the AND gate 712 does notoutput a trigger.

When the trigger is output by the AND gate 712 it is received as aninput by a counter 714 to initiate and start the counter 714. Thecounter 714 can be programmed and/or configured to increment a countervalue until the counter value reaches a threshold counter value T_(a)and/or until the counter receives a stop signal. If the counter 714reaches the threshold counter value T_(a), the counter 714 outputs aBoolean one (e.g., the output from the counter 714 has voltage above aspecified threshold voltage). Otherwise, the counter 714 outputs aBoolean zero (e.g., the output from the counter 714 has voltage below aspecified threshold voltage). The output of the counter 714 is receivedas a first input to an AND gate 716 and an output of a comparator 718 isreceived by the AND gate 716 is a second input.

The comparator 718 compares the output of the accelerometer associatedwith the sensed force along the z-axis with the specified minimumdirectional force (z min) to determine whether the instrument (e.g.,golf club) remains within the acceptance cone for the duration of thetime period defined by the threshold counter value T_(a). When thesensed force along the z-axis is greater than the specified minimumdirectional force (z min), the comparator 718 outputs a Boolean one tothe AND gate 716 and outputs a Boolean zero to an input of the counter714 corresponding to a control input for stopping the counter 714. Whenthe sensed force along the z-axis is greater than the specified minimumdirectional force (z min), the comparator 718 outputs a Boolean one tothe AND gate 716 and outputs a Boolean zero to an input of the counter714 corresponding to a control input for stopping the counter 714. ABoolean one output from the comparator 718 to the control input of thecounter 714 stops the counter from incrementing the counter value, andin some embodiments, can reset the counter value to an initial value(e.g., zero). The counter 714 may not restart until the counter 714receives another trigger signal and the control input of the counter 714is a Boolean zero. The AND gate 716 can output a wake signal to theprocessing device of the sensor module circuitry in response tosimultaneously receiving a Boolean one from the output of the counterand a Boolean one from the output of the comparator. The processingdevice can execute the power management engine to transition the mode ofoperation of the sensor module circuitry from the sleep mode to thenormal mode of operation. After the sensor module circuitry transitionsto the normal mode of operation, the processing device executing thepower management engine can determine whether the instrument (e.g., agolf club) is swung within a specified time period. If not, theprocessing device executing the power management engine can transitionthe sensor module circuitry from the normal mode of operation to thesleep mode of operation.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device 800 that maybe used to implement exemplary embodiments of the electronic device 120described herein. The electronic device 800 can include a computingdevice that includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediafor storing computer-executable instructions, code, or software forimplementing a performance tracking and/or monitoring environment 805.The non-transitory computer-readable media may include, but are notlimited to, one or more types of hardware memory, non-transitorytangible media (for example, one or more magnetic storage disks, one ormore optical disks, one or more flash drives), and the like. Forexample, memory 806 included in the electronic device 800 may storecomputer-readable and computer-executable instructions or software forimplementing exemplary embodiments of the environment 805. The computingdevice 800 also includes control circuitry in the form of configurableand/or programmable processing device(s), e.g., a processor 802 andassociated core 804, and optionally, one or more additional configurableand/or programmable processor(s) 802′ and associated core(s) 804′ (forexample, in the case of computer systems having multipleprocessors/cores), for executing computer-readable andcomputer-executable instructions or software stored in the memory 806and other programs for controlling system hardware. Processor 802 andprocessor(s) 802′ may each be a single core processor or multiple core(804 and 804′) processor.

Virtualization may be employed in the electronic device 800 so thatinfrastructure and resources in the electronic device 800 may be shareddynamically. A virtual machine 814 may be provided to handle a processrunning on multiple processors so that the process appears to be usingonly one computing resource rather than multiple computing resources.Multiple virtual machines may also be used with one processor.

Memory 806 may include a computer system memory or random access memory,such as DRAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, and the like. Memory 806 may include othertypes of memory as well, or combinations thereof.

A user may interact with the electronic device 800 through a visualdisplay device 818, such as a touch screen, which may display one ormore graphical user interfaces 819 render upon execution of the computerreadable instructions, code, or software corresponding to theenvironment 805. The electronic device 800 may include other I/O devicesfor receiving input from a user, for example, a keyboard (virtual orphysical) or any suitable multi-point touch interface 808, a pointingdevice 810 (e.g., a mouse or stylus), an electroacoustic transducer 828(such as a microphone, piezo-electric sensor) that converts mechanicalenergy of detected pressure waves into electrical signals, and/or animage capturing device 829 (e.g., a camera or scanner). The computingdevice 800 may include other suitable conventional I/O peripherals.

The electronic device 800 may also include one or more storage devices824, such as a hard-drive, CD-ROM, or other computer readable media, forstoring data and computer-readable instructions and/or software thatimplement exemplary embodiments of the environment 805 described herein.Exemplary storage device 824 may also store one or more databases forstoring any suitable information required to implement exemplaryembodiments. For example, exemplary storage device 824 can store one ormore databases 826 for storing information, such as user performanceinformation, golf course information, performance statistics, userprofiles, performance analysis, and/or any other information to be usedby embodiments of the environment 805. The databases may be updatedmanually or automatically at any suitable time to add, delete, and/orupdate one or more items in the databases.

The electronic device 800 can include a network interface 812 configuredto interface via one or more network devices 820 with one or morenetworks, for example, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN)or the Internet through a variety of connections including, but notlimited to, standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN links (for example,802.11, T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections (for example, ISDN,Frame Relay, ATM), wireless connections, controller area network (CAN),or some combination of any or all of the above. The network interface812 may include a built-in network adapter, network interface card,PCMCIA network card, card bus network adapter, wireless network adapter,USB network adapter, modem or any other device suitable for interfacingthe electronic device 800 to any type of network capable ofcommunication and performing the operations described herein.

In exemplary embodiments, the electronic device 800 can include a RFtransceiver 830. The RF transceiver 830 can be configured to transmitand/or receive wireless transmissions via an antenna 832. For example,the RF transceiver can be configured to transmit one or more messages,directly or indirectly, to a remote system (e.g., remote system 130shown in FIG. 1) and/or can be configured to receive one or moremessages, directly or indirectly, from the remote system. The RFtransceiver 830 can be configured to transmit and/or receive messageshaving a specified frequency and/or according to a specified sequenceand/or packet arrangement. As one example, the RF transceiver 830 can bea WiFi transceiver configured to conform to a WiFi standard (e.g., asdefined IEEE 802.11 standards) for transmitting and/or receiving radiotransmissions typically in the frequency range of approximately 2.4gigahertz (GHz) to approximately 2.48 GHz and/or can be a cellulartransceiver configured to conform to one or more cellular protocols(e.g., GSM, LTE, 3G, 4G).

The electronic device can include a GPS receiver 834. The GPS receiver834 can be configured to receive GPS satellite transmissions includingGPS data, which can be used by the environment 805 being executed by theprocessor 802 of the electronic device 800 to monitor and/or track ageographic location of the electronic device 800 (e.g., a longitude andlatitude of the electronic device). For example, for embodimentsimplemented in a golfing environment, the electronic device 800 canreceive a broadcast signal from a GPS satellite and can process the GPSdata included in broadcast signal to determine a geographic location ofthe electronic device 800, which can be utilized by the environment 805to determine a geographic location of the electronic device 800 on agolf course, relative to a hole on the golf course, a distance theelectronic device 800 traveled between consecutive golf shots, and/orany other location based information.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 800 may be any computersystem, such as a laptop, handheld computer, tablet computer (e.g., theiPad™ tablet computer), mobile computing or communication device (e.g.,the iPhone™ communication device or an Android™ communication device),or other form of computing or telecommunications device that is capableof communication and that has sufficient processor power and memorycapacity to perform the operations described herein. In someembodiments, the electronic device 800 can be a device specificallycreated to monitor and/or track a golf round using the sensor modules.The electronic device 800 may run any operating system 816, such as anyof the versions of the Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, thedifferent releases of the Unix and Linux operating systems, any versionof the MacOS® for Macintosh computers, any version of the Androidoperating system, any version of the iOS operating system for the AppleiPhone and/or iPAd, any embedded operating system, any real-timeoperating system, any open source operating system, any proprietaryoperating system, or any other operating system capable of running onthe computing device and performing the operations described herein. Inexemplary embodiments, the operating system 816 may be run in nativemode or emulated mode. In an exemplary embodiment, the operating system816 may be run on one or more cloud machine instances.

In exemplary embodiments, the processor 802 can “listen” for detectionof pressure waves from the sensor modules based on an output of theelectroacoustic transducer 828. For example, when the environment 805 isbeing executed in the foreground or background, the processor 802 canmonitor an input corresponding to an output of the transducer 828 todetermine whether the transducer 828 detected a pressure wavepropagating from one or more of the sensor modules (e.g., based onmovement or vibrations of the transducer in response to the pressurewave). In response to receipt of electrical signals corresponding to thepressure wave at the input of the processor 802 from the transducer 828,the processor 802 can process the electrical signals to determineinformation/data based on the receipt of the pressure wave itself and/orbased on information/data encode in and extracted from the pressurewave. For example, in some embodiments, the electronic device 800 candetect pressure waves propagating from a sensor module that includeacceleration information, other swing information, sensor moduleidentification information, an indication that the sensor moduledetected an impact between the instrument and an object, and/or anindication of a golf shot.

In exemplary embodiments, in response to the receipt of theinformation/data included in the pressure waves, the processing device802 of the electronic device 800 can execute the environment 805 todetermine whether the impact associated with the detected pressure waveis a false positive golf shot. If the electronic device 800 determinesthat the impact is a false positive golf shot, the environment 805 canbe executed by the processing device 802 to suppress or ignore thedata/information included in the pressure wave or can be programmed toprocess the data/information included in the pressure wave as a falsepositive.

In exemplary embodiments, the environment 805 can be programmed and/orconfigured to suppress or ignore false positive golf shots based on oneor more criteria. The criteria can be used in aggregate and/orcombination to detect false positive different circumstances or eventsto provide for robust and accurate detection of golf shots. In someembodiments, the criteria can be used in conjunction with any criteriaimplemented by the sensor modules. For example, for embodiments in whichthe sensor modules are configured to process the accelerometer output toidentify golf shots, if the sensor module determines that a detectedimpact constitutes a golf shot based on criteria used by the sensormodule and creates a pressure wave indicative of a detected golf shot,the electronic device executing the environment 805 can apply itscriteria to determine whether the detected impact is a golf shot or is afalse positive upon detection of the pressure wave. In some embodiments,the electronic device 800 can receive acceleration information from thesensor module and can determine whether the acceleration informationcorresponds to a golf shot or a false positive.

In some embodiments, the environment 805 can be programmed and/orconfigured to suppress or ignore false positives when a club is dropped(e.g., into a bag) by processing x, y and z accelerometer output values(e.g., accelerometer criteria) obtained before, after, and/or when theimpact is detected, which can be extracted from a pressure wave detectedby the electronic device and generated by a sensor module. If the x, yand z accelerometer output values are sufficiently small, the processingdevice 802 can execute the environment 805 to assume that the club wasdropped (e.g., into a bag) and to identify the impact as a falsepositive. If a “wakeup” or “sleep” state is triggered in the sensormodule subsequent to impact (which means that the club was turnedupright after the shot), the sensor module can include this informationin a pressure wave and the electronic device 800 can cancel the falsepositive suppression and recognize the detected impact as a shot inresponse to detection and processing of the pressure wave. Thisadvantageously allows the environment 805 executed in the electronicdevice to recognize very small swings (e.g., such as chip shots).

In some embodiments, a false positive golf shot can be suppressed orignored based on a motion of the golf club before, during, or after animpact is detected. For example, after a shot, the accelerometer outputvalues are sampled and processed for a predetermined amount of time andincluded in a pressure wave to be detected by the electronic device. Insome embodiments, the seconds between approximately the third secondafter impact and the eleventh second after impact, can be processed andanalyzed. If the values in the accelerometer are sufficiently small, theenvironment 805 can be programmed and/or configured to assume, forexample, that the club was thrown on the ground and can suppress orprocessor 802 can execute the environment 805 to ignore the detectedimpact.

In some embodiments, a false positive impact/golf shot can be suppressedor ignored based on distances between detected impacts. For example, theenvironment 805 can be programmed and/or configured to recognize onlyone detected impact within a certain geographic radius (e.g., to form ageographic boundary) as a golf shot and can ignore other detectedpressure waves associated with acceleration information or impactswithin the geographic radius. The geographic radius can be different fordifferent golf clubs and/or for different distances to a specifiedlocation on the golf course, such as a center point of the green of thecurrent hole being played by the user. As one example, the geographicradius associated with a driver can be larger than the geographic radiusassociated with a long iron, which can be larger than the geographicradius of a short iron. The geographic radius can be defined based onGPS coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude coordinates) and thedistance can be measured using global positioning information processedby the electronic device 800 such that if multiple impacts are detectedwithin the geographic radius only one of the detected impacts is countedas a golf shot. In some embodiments, the first, intermediate, or lastdetected impact can be counted as the golf shot and the first detectedimpact can define a point within the geographic radius (e.g., a centerpoint). The geographic radius criteria can be used to advantageouslyeliminate false positives from practice shots (as well as from banging agolf club on the ground after a shot in frustration or any other impactsdetected within the radius).

As a non-limiting example, during a round of golf, the user can begin anew golf hole such that no golf shots have been recorded for the golfhole. Before striking the golf ball, the user may take a series ofpractice swings near the tee site with the driver. In some embodiments,information related to these practice swings can be included in pressurewaves output by the sensor module at the time the practice swings occurand the electronic device can maintain a running log of the swings upondetection of the pressure waves. In some embodiments, only thosepractice swings for which the sensor module secured to and/or embeddedwithin the driver detects an impact are used to generate pressure wavesto be detected by the electronic device. The propagation of a pressurewave in response to a first swing (or the first detected impact) can beused by the electronic device to establish a geographic boundary basedon the type of club used to generated the pressure wave and/or adistance of the electronic device to the a specified location on thegolf course (e.g., a distance to the center of the green for the currentgolf hole being played) determined based on golf course information andGPS data. For example, the location at which the electronic devicedetects a pressure wave from a sensor module for the first can be set toa center point of the geographic boundary and a geographic radius can beset to a specified geographic radius associated with the driver when thedistance between the center point of the geographic boundary and thecenter of the green exceeds a threshold value.

Once the golfer is ready take an actual golf shot, the user can strikethe ball with the driver and can move to the location at which the golflanded after being struck by the driver (i.e., the new location). Theuser can select one or more clubs at the new location and can take aseries of practice swings and/or can strike the golf ball with the golfclub, each of which can generate pressures waves from the sensor modulescorresponding to the golf clubs used by the user, which can be detectedby the electronic device. If the new location of the electronic deviceexceeds the geographic radius set by the electronic device when thepressure waves are detected, the electronic device identifies that agolf shot previously occurred based on one of the swings of the driverwithin the geographic radius.

In some embodiments, the location of the electronic device can beupdated as the electronic device moves such that the electronic devicecan detect when the electronic device moves from within the geographicboundary to outside of the geographic boundary (e.g., when theelectronic device breaks passes through a perimeter of the geographicboundary from an area within the boundary to an area outside of theboundary). Upon detecting that the electronic device is outside of thegeographic boundary, the electronic device can automatically identifyone of the swings/detected impacts that occurred in the geographicboundary as a golf shot and can wait for the next detection of apressure wave to set a new geographic boundary (e.g., a new center pointand geographic boundary) for the next golf shot.

In some embodiments, the electronic device can wait until the electronicdevice detects a pressure wave from one of the sensor modules while theelectronic device is outside of the geographic boundary before assigningone of the swings/detected impacts as a golf shot that occurred withinthe geographic boundary and resetting the center point and geographicradius of the boundary based on the location at which the electronicdevice receives the next pressure wave from the sensor module outsidethe previously established geographic boundary. For example, if the userselects a nine iron and swings the nine iron such that the sensor moduleassociated with the nine iron generates a pressure wave that is detectedby the electronic device (e.g., a pressure wave that is indicative of animpact between the nine iron and an object), the electronic device canset the location at which the electronic device detected the pressurewave as the center point of the geographic boundary and can set thegeographic radius to be a geographic radius associated with the nineiron. The geographic radius can be different depending on whether adistance between the location to a selected location of the golf course(e.g., a center point of the green for the golf hole currently beingplayed) exceeds a threshold value. When the distance does not exceed thethreshold, a first value can be used for the geographic radius, and whenthe distance does exceed the threshold, a second value can be used forthe geographic radius. The threshold value can be specific to the typeof golf club being used such that the threshold can be different, forexample, if the user uses a driver or a nine iron.

While exemplary embodiments of the geographic boundary have beendescribed as including a center point and a radius to form a circulargeographic boundary, exemplary embodiments of the geographic boundarycan have any suitable shape. For example, in exemplary embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the geographic boundary can be an ellipse, arectangle, a triangle, a trapezoid, and/or any other suitable shapeand/or an initial position within the geographic boundary can be set toany position within the boundary (e.g., offset from a center point).Furthermore, the shape of the geographic boundary can be different fordifferent types of golf clubs.

In some embodiments, a false positive can be suppressed or ignored basedon a time between detected impacts. The time criteria can be differentfor different golf clubs. As one example, the time period associatedwith a driver can be longer than the time period associated with a longiron, which can be longer than the time period associated with a shortiron. In some embodiments, the first, intermediate, or last detectedimpact can be counted as the golf shot and the first detected impact canstart the time period. The time period criteria can be used toadvantageously eliminate false positives from practice shots (as well asfrom banging a golf club on the ground after a shot in frustration).

In some embodiments, a false positive can be suppressed or ignored basedon a motion of the user. For example motion data of the electronicdevice in conjunction with GPS information can be used to determine if auser is moving when an impact is detected. Since it may take severalseconds for the electronic device to detect a pressure wave from thesensor module after an impact, a history of motion data and locationdata can be maintained by the electronic device to allow the processingdevice to execute the environment to determine if the user was moving atthe time of the impact. In order to accomplish this, the number ofseconds since the impact occurred can be encoded in pressure wavegenerated by the sensor module. If it is determined that the user wasmoving at the time of the detected impact, the processing device 802 canbe programmed to suppress or ignore the detected impact.

In some embodiments, a false positive can be suppressed or ignored basedon criteria associated with an appropriateness of a golf club used for agiven circumstance. The circumstance can take into account a location ofthe user with respect to the current hole or the next hole, a distancefrom the tee to the hole, and an appropriateness of the golf club caninclude an average distance a golf ball is hit by the user using a golfclub, an intended use of the golf club (e.g., for long shots or shortshots). As one example, if a user has putted on the current hole, and animpact is detected from a club that is not appropriate for another golfshot on the current hole or a tee shot on the next hole, the detectedimpact can be suppressed or ignored. For example, if the user hits theirpitching wedge 110 yards on average and the next hole is a 175 yard par3, any impact detected from the sensor module associated with thepitching wedge can be suppressed or ignored until after the next teeshot.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the performancemonitoring and/or tracking environment 805 that can be implemented byembodiments of the electronic device 800 to monitor and/or track auser's golfing performance. The environment 805 can include a userinterface 910, a profile management engine 920, and a performancetracking engine 930.

In exemplary embodiments, the user interface 910 can be programmedand/or include executable code to provide one or more graphical userinterfaces (GUIs) 912 through which a user can interact with theenvironment 805. The GUIs 912 displayed to users can include data entryareas to receive information from the user and/or can include dataoutputs to display information to the user. Some examples of data entryfields include, but are not limited to text boxes, check boxes, buttons,dropdown menus, and/or any other suitable data entry fields.

The profile management engine 920 can be programmed and/or configured toreceive, maintain, modify, and/or update a user profile. In exemplaryembodiments, the user profile can be created by the user upon an initialexecution of the environment 805. As one example, the processing devicecan execute the engine 920 to request user information including, forexample, a user name, gender, weight, height, golf handicap, stance(e.g., right or left), an experience level (e.g., number of yearsplaying, a number of rounds played in the previous year), and/or anyother suitable user information. As another example, the processingdevice can execute the engine 920 to collect and/or setup instrumentinformation including, for example, an identity of the instruments(e.g., different golf clubs) to which the sensor modules are or will beaffixed, an association between the sensor modules and theircorresponding instruments (e.g., golf clubs), an estimated distance anobject (e.g., a golf ball) will likely travel when the user strikes itwith each instrument, and/or any other suitable instrument informationthat can be utilized by the environment 805 to facilitate trackingand/or monitoring a user's performance during an activity (e.g., a roundof golf). In exemplary embodiments, the user profile can be maintained,modified, and/or updated to include statistic information related to theuser's past performance. In exemplary embodiments, the statisticinformation can include an average score, a handicap, an averagedistance an object travels for each of the instruments, a userperformance on specific golf courses, and/or any other statisticinformation that can be utilized, maintained, and/or created based onthe tracking and/or monitoring of a user's performance during anactivity (e.g., a round of golf).

In exemplary embodiments, the performance tracking engine 930 can beprogrammed and/or configured to receive and/or maintain informationcorresponding to specific golf courses and/or holes at a specific golfcourse. For example, the engine 930 can receive and/or maintain ageographic map of the golf course including information related to theterrain of the golf course, a location of the holes on the golf course,a par for the holes on the golf course, and/or any other suitableinformation related to golf courses. In some embodiments, the golfcourse information can be maintained in a database of the remote systemand the electronic device can request the golf course information fromthe database in response to an input from the user. In some embodiments,the golf course information can be stored on the electronic deviceexecuting the environment 805.

The performance tracking engine 930 can be executed by the processingdevice to monitor the electroacoustic transducer for detection ofpressure waves propagating from the sensor modules associated with thegolf clubs. For example, in exemplary embodiments, the pressure wavespropagating from the sensor modules can include informationcorresponding to accelerometer information of the golf club, anindication of an impact between a golf club and an object (e.g., a golfball or the earth), an indication of a golf shot, swing analysisinformation (e.g., a swing speed, a swing tempo, swing force, club faceangle, swing plane, etc., represented via accelerometer outputinformation), and/or any other suitable information related to anoperation of the sensor module and/or a utilization of the instrument.The information received by the electronic device can be utilized uponexecution of the engine 930 to identify a location at which a golf shotoccurred, identify a number of golf shots that occurred for a particularhole, identify a golf score for a particular hole or course, provide aswing analysis, identify false positive impacts/golf shots (e.g., usingcriteria described herein), and the like. The information received fromthe pressure waves can also be provided to the engine 920 to create,update, and/or modify statistic information in the user profile.

FIGS. 10-32 provide exemplary GUIs that can be rendered on a display ofan electronic device in response to an execution of the environment 805by the electronic device 800 shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary GUI 1000 that can be provided by exemplaryembodiments of the environment 805 to facilitate a recognition processbetween an electronic device and sensor modules. The GUI 1000 renders aninstructional screen 1010 on the display of the electronic deviceindicating that the putter is ready to be associated with a sensormodule. In exemplary embodiments where the sensor modules are affixed tothe golf clubs, the housing of the remaining sensor modules to be usedfor other golf clubs. The screen 1010 can instruct the user of thisdifference and can display a graphic or animation illustrating how toaffix the sensor module to the golf club. The screen 1010 can alsoinstruct the user to initiate the recognition process by depressing thepush button (i.e. switch) on the sensor module, which causes the sensormodule to generate a pressure wave that can be detected by the user'selectronic device (e.g., smart phone) to associate the sensor modulewith the electronic device based on a characteristic or parameterassociated with the pressure wave (e.g., a frequency of the pressurewave, a unique identifier included in the pressure wave).

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary GUI 1100 that can be provided by exemplaryembodiments of the environment 805 to facilitate a recognition processbetween an electronic device and sensor modules. The GUI 1100 renders aninstructional screen 1110 on the display of the electronic deviceindicating that a golf club (e.g., other than the putter) is ready to beassociated with a sensor module. For embodiments where the sensormodules are affixed to the golf clubs, the screen 1110 can display agraphic or animation illustrating how to affix the sensor module to thegolf club and can instruct the user to initiate the recognition processby depressing the push button (i.e. switch) on the sensor module, whichcauses the sensor module to generate a pressure wave that can bereceived by the user's electronic device (e.g., smart phone) toassociate the sensor module with the electronic device based on acharacteristic or parameter of the pressure wave (e.g., a frequency ofthe pressure wave, a unique identifier included in the pressure wave.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary GUI 1200 that can be provided by exemplaryembodiments of the environment 805 to render a screen 1210 on thedisplay of an electronic device related to the monitoring and/ortracking of the user's performance during a round of golf. The screen1210 can identify a date 1212 on which the round is being played,current hole information 1220, a distance 1230 from the last golf shotby the user, and previous shot information 1240. The current holeinformation 1220 can identify the current hole 1222 being played, anumber of golf shots 1224 taken by the user on the hole, and a number ofshots 1226 corresponding to par for the hole. As one example, as shownin FIG. 12, information about the user's first shot 1242 on the currenthole 1222 can be graphically depicted to indicate a type 1244 of golfclub used by the user to take the first shot, which is shown as a “D” toindicate that the driver was used to take the first shot, and caninclude a distance 1246 in yards that the first shot traveled. Asanother example, as shown in FIG. 12, information about the user'ssecond shot 1248 on the current hole 1222 can be graphically depicted toindicate the type 1244 of golf club used by the user to take the secondshot, which is shown as “7i” to indicate that the seven iron was used totake the second shot, and can include a distance 1250 in yards that thesecond shot traveled.

As described herein, the number of golf shots taken by the user can bedetermined based on pressure waves propagating from a sensor moduleassociated with the golf club that are detected by the user's electronicdevice. The current hole 1220 can be determined by the users geographiclocation on the golf course compared to golf course informationincluding a geographic layout of the golf course, which can used by theenvironment 805 to automatically update the current hole information andthe par information for the current hole. The distance 1230 from thelast shot can be determined, using the user's GPS enabled electronicdevice, based on a location of the user's electronic device during theimpact portion of the user's last shot and the current geographiclocation of the user's electronic device or the geographic location ofthe user's electronic device when the user strikes the golf ball on theshot after the last shot.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary GUI 1300 that can be provided by exemplaryembodiments of the environment 805 to render a screen 1310 on a displayof an electronic device related to the monitoring and/or tracking of theuser's performance during a round of golf. The screen 1310 can display ageographic map 1320 of the hole, current hole information 1330, and ashot sequence 1340. The geographic map 1320 can display a terrain of thegolf course. A user's shot performance 1322 for the hole can be overlaidon the geographic map 1320. For example, the shot performance 1322 caninclude a marker 1324 overlaid on the geographic map 1320 at a firstlocation to indicate the first shot taken by the user for the hole andthe type of golf club used by the user for the first shot (e.g., shownas a “D” to indicate that the driver was used) and a marker 1326overlaid on the geographic map 1320 at a second location to indicate thesecond shot taken by the user for the hole and the type of golf clubused by the user for the first shot (e.g., shown as a “7i” to indicatethat the seven iron was used) The current hole information 1330 caninclude a current hole number 1332, par for the hole 1334, a totalnumber of yards for the hole 1336, and the current number of shots takenby the user 1338. The shot sequence information can list the shots takenby the user for the hole and can identify the type of golf club used totake the shots and the distance that the shots traveled.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary GUI 1400 that can be provided by exemplaryembodiments of the environment 805 to render, on a display of anelectronic device, hole information 1420 for a selected hole in aselected round of golf monitored and/or tracked by the environment 805.The hole information 1420 can include course specified information 1422(e.g., a hole number, par, and distance), a number of shots 1424 theuser took for the hole, a geographic map 1426 for the hole overlaid withthe golf shots taken by the user for the hole, a shot sequence 1430, anda hole performance history 1440. The hole performance history 1440 caninclude a list 1442 of dates for which the hole was played by the userand a number golf shots taken by the user on the hole for each date.

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary GUI 1500 that can be provided by exemplaryembodiments of the environment 805 to render, on a display of anelectronic device, a golf score history 1520 for a selected golf course.The golf score history 1520 can be in the form of a scorecard thatprovides the par 1522 for each hole, the number of golf shots 1524 takenby the user for each hole during the most recent round of golf, and thenumber of golf shots 1526 taken by the user for additional rounds ofgolf played by the user in the past.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process 1600 for associating agolf club with a sensor module by exemplary embodiments of theenvironment 805. To begin, the electronic device can execute anembodiment of the performance tracking and/or monitoring environment 805to initiate the association process at step 1602. In response to theinitiation of the association process, at step 1604, the environment 805can be executed by the electronic device to render a GUI on the displayof the electronic device to facilitate user selection of golf clubs froma list of golf clubs for which sensor modules will be affixed and/orwithin which the sensor modules are embedded. At step 1606, after a userhas selected the golf clubs from the list, the environment 805 can beexecuted by the electronic device to render a GUI on the display of theelectronic device instructing the user to affix a sensor module to agolf club identified by the GUI or locate the golf club within which asensor module is embedded (e.g., via text and/or graphics). The GUI canalso instruct the user to actuate a button on the sensor module toassociate the sensor module with the electronic device and/or toassociate the sensor module with the golf club in the environment 805.At step 1608, the sensor module can generate pressure waves in responseto actuation of the button on the sensor module.

At step 1610, the electronic device can detect the pressure wavespropagating from the sensor module and can execute the environment 805to associate the sensor module with the electronic device and/or toassociate the sensor module with the identified golf club (e.g., storean associate between the sensor module and the golf club displayed atstep 1606). At step 1612, the electronic device can execute theenvironment 805 to determine whether the user selected additional golfclubs to be associated. If so, the process 1600 repeats from step 1606.If not, the process 1600 ends.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process 1700 that can beimplemented by exemplary embodiments of the sensor module circuitry 212during a swing event. At step 1702, the sensor module circuitry candetect that the golf club is in an address phase of a golf swing. Forexample, the accelerometer and/or gyroscope of the sensor modulecircuitry can output signals that can be processed by the sensor modulecircuitry to determine that the golf club has an orientation that iswithin the addressing range. At step 1704, the sensor module circuitrycan capture acceleration and/or orientation information of the golf club(e.g., based on an acceleration and/or orientation of the sensor moduleaffixed to and/or embedded within the golf club) through a backswingportion of the golf swing. At step 1706, the sensor module circuitry cancapture acceleration and/or orientation information of the golf clubthrough a downswing portion of the golf swing. At step 1708, the sensormodule circuitry can capture acceleration, orientation, and/or impactinformation of the golf club through an impact portion of the golfswing. In exemplary embodiments, the impact information can be capturedas descried herein. At step 1710, the sensor module circuitry cancapture acceleration and/or orientation information of the golf clubthrough a follow-through portion of the golf swing.

At step 1712, the sensor module circuitry can calculate, derive, and/oridentify swing information utilizing the acceleration, orientation,and/or impact information captured before, during, and/or after the golfswing. For example, the processing device of the sensor module circuitrycan execute the swing monitoring system to calculate a swing tempo,swing velocity, swing force, club face angle, swing plane, impact force,and/or any other swing parameters or other swing analysis parametersand/or to identify a golf shot based on the impact information. At step1714, the sensor module circuitry can generate pressure waves, which canbe detected by an electroacoustic transducer of an electronic deviceassociated with the user, and at step 1716, the sensor module circuitrycan transition from a normal mode of operation to a sleep mode ofoperation.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a process 1800 that can be implemented byexemplary embodiments of the sensor module circuitry to detect an impactduring a golf swing. At step 1802, the sensor module circuitry canenable impact detection in response to detection of a downswing portionof the golf swing and at step 1804, the sensor module circuitry canmonitor the accelerometer for an abrupt change in acceleration. At step1806, the sensor module circuitry can determine whether an impactoccurred based on an abrupt change in acceleration. If no abrupt changeis detected, the sensor module circuitry disables impact detection inresponse to detection of a follow-through portion of the golf swing atstep 1808 and generates pressure waves propagating through air, whichcan be detected by an electroacoustic transducer of the user'selectronic device at step 1810. If an abrupt change in acceleration isdetected, the sensor module circuitry can determine whether the impactis the result of a golf swing by analyzing the output of theaccelerometer immediately prior to and immediately after an impact isdetected to determine whether the accelerometer output corresponds tocharacterized swing information at step 1812. If not, the sensor modulecircuitry determines that the golf club did not strike a golf ballduring the swing at step 1814 and the process proceeds to step 1808. Ifit is determined by the circuitry that the accelerometer outputcorresponds to characterized swing information, the sensor modulecircuitry determines whether the impact is a false positive usingtechniques and criteria described herein. If it is determined by thecircuitry that the impact is a false positive, the process proceeds tostep 1816. If not, the circuitry determines that the golf club struck agolf ball during a swing at step 1818 and the process proceeds to step1808.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process 1900 that can beimplemented by an electronic device executing an exemplary embodiment ofthe monitoring and/or tracking environment described herein. At step1902, the electronic device can detect the pressure waves propagated bya sensor module affixed to or embedded in a golf club. At step 1904, theelectronic device can execute the environment 805 to identify from whichsensor module the pressure waves propagate and determine which golf clubcorresponds to the sensor module. For example, a recognition process mayhave been executed previously to associate a golf club to the sensormodule in the environment 805 and the electronic device can execute theenvironment 805 to search and/or look-up the association corresponding aparameter of the pressure waves (e.g., frequency) and/or anidentification parameter included in the pressure wave (e.g., usingmodulation). At step 1906, the electronic device can execute theenvironment 805 to determine whether the pressure waves are indicativeof a golf shot (e.g., using false positive detection techniques andcriteria described herein). If not, the electronic device can store theinformation/data extracted from the pressure waves for furtherprocessing at step 1908. If the information/data extracted from thepressure waves is indicative of a golf shot, the electronic device canexecute the environment 805 to register a golf shot and can increment ashot counter for a current hole of golf being monitored and/or trackedusing the environment 805 at step 1910. At step 1912, the golf shot canbe included in a sequence of golf shots for the current hole and at step1914, a marker can be overlaid on a geographic map to identify alocation of the golf shot. At step 1916, a distance between animmediately previous golf shot and the present golf shot can bedetermined (e.g., based on a location of the user's GPS enabledelectronic device for the previous shot and the present shot.)

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process 2000 that can beimplemented by an electronic device executing an exemplary embodiment ofthe monitoring and/or tracking environment 805 to determine whether agolf shot occurred during a round of golf based on geographic locationdata. At step 2002, the electroacoustic transducer of the electronicdevice can detect pressure waves from one or more sensor modulesoperatively coupled to one or more golf clubs. The pressure waves caninclude or represent information associated with an acceleration of thegolf clubs to which the one or more sensor modules are secured and/orembedded and/or can include or represent indications of impacts betweenthe golf clubs and object. As one example, the pressure waves can bemodulated to include acceleration information output by theaccelerometer, which can be detected by the electroacoustic transducerof the electronic device, and can be processed by the electronic deviceupon execution of the environment 805 to determine whether theacceleration data corresponds to an impact between the correspondinggolf club and an object (e.g., the earth, a golf ball, etc.). As anotherexample, the pressure waves can be modulated to include an indicationthat the sensor module detected an impact between the corresponding golfclub and an object. At step 2004, the electronic device can determinegeographic locations at which the electronic device detected thepressure waves. For example, the GPS receiver of the electronic devicecan receive GPS data in broadcasts from the GPS satellite and theelectronic device can use the GPS data in the broadcasts to determine ageographic location (e.g., longitude and latitude) of the electronicdevice at the time the pressure waves are detect (or before or after thepressure waves are detected) by the electronic device.

At step 2006 the processing device of the electronic device candetermine whether at least one of the pressure waves corresponds to agolf shot based on the geographic locations at which the electronicdevice detected the pressure waves. In some embodiments, a geographicboundary can be established by the electronic device based on ageographic location at which the electronic device detects a specifiedpressure wave (e.g., the geographic location can form a center point ofthe geographic boundary). For example, the specified one of the pressurewaves corresponds to a first one of the separately generated pressurewaves detected by the electronic device after a previous golf shot isidentified as counting towards a golf score as described herein. Theelectronic device can set a radius of the geographic boundary from thecenter point such that the geographic boundary encircles the centerpoint. In some embodiments, the radius of the geographic boundary can beset based on the golf club type associated with the specified one of thepressure waves used to generate the center point of the geographicboundary and/or based on a distance between the center point of thegeographic boundary and a specified location of the golf course. Forexample, each type of golf club can be associated with multiple radiusvalues, e.g., a first radius value when the center point of thegeographic boundary exceeds a threshold distance from a selected golfcourse location (e.g., the center of the green), and a second radiusvalue when the center point of the geographic boundary is within thethreshold distance from the selected golf course location (e.g., thecenter of the green). The type of golf club associated with thespecified one of the pressure waves can be determined by the electronicdevice based on, for example, a unique identifier included in orrepresented by the specified one of the pressure waves that associates aparticular sensor module with a corresponding golf club.

To determine whether at least one of the pressure waves corresponds to agolf shot, the electronic device can determine whether the othergeographic locations at which the electronic device detected thepressure waves are within the geographic boundary. Upon determining thatone of the geographic location of one of the pressure waves is outsideof the geographic boundary, the electronic device can select one of thegeographic locations of the electronic device within the geographicboundary as a golf shot location for the golf shot and can ignore theother geographic locations of the electronic device within thegeographic boundary that were not selected as the golf shot location.For example, the electronic device can select the center point of thegeographic boundary, the last geographic location at which theelectronic device detected a last one of the pressure waves within thegeographic boundary, and/or any of the other geographic locations atwhich the electronic device detected a pressure wave within thegeographic boundary.

In some embodiments, the electronic device determine whether at leastone of the separately generated pressures corresponds to a golf shotbased on the geographic locations at which the electronic devicedetected the separately generated pressure waves and a temporalrelationship of the separately generated pressure waves detected by theelectronic device. As one example, the temporal relationship cancorrespond to a time between detection of the separately generatedpressure waves by the electronic device such that at least oneseparately generated pressure wave is ignored when consecutivelygenerated pressure waves are detected within a specified time period. Asanother example, the temporal relationship corresponds to a specifiedtime period, and the electronic device can determine whether at leastone of the separately generated pressure waves corresponds to a golfshot by determining whether the electronic device detected theseparately generated pressure waves within specified time period.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a process 2100 that can beimplemented by an electronic device executing an exemplary embodiment ofthe monitoring and/or tracking environment 805 to determine whether agolf shot occurred during a round of golf. At step 2102, theelectroacoustic transducer of the electronic device can detect apressure wave from a sensor module secured to or embedded within a golfclub as described herein. At step 2104, the electronic device candetermine a geographic location at which the electronic device detectedthe pressure wave. For example, the electronic device can receive a GPSdata from a GPS satellite via the GPS receiver and can determine thegeographic coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude) of the electronicdevice based on the received GPS data. At step 2106, the electronicdevice determines whether the geographical location (e.g., longitude andlatitude) at which the electronic device detected the pressure wave iswithin an established geographic boundary. If so, the process 2100repeats from step 2102. If not, at step 2108, for the pressure wavedetected by the electronic device within the established geographicboundary, the processing device of electronic device can select one ofthe geographic locations (e.g., the geographic location associated withthe first, intermediate, or last separately generated pressure wave thatwas detected while the electronic device was within the geographicboundary) to represent a golf shot location for a golf shot that countstowards a user's golf score. At step 2110, the processing device of theelectronic device can establish a new geographic boundary based ondetection, at a geographic location outside of the establishedgeographic boundary, of a subsequent pressure wave by the electronicdevice propagating from a sensor module secured to and/or embeddedwithin a golf club. For example, the electronic device can set a centerpoint of the new geographic boundary to be the geographic locationoutside the established geographic boundary at which the electronicdevice detected the pressure wave, and can set a radius of thegeographic boundary to a radius value based on an identification of thegolf club to which the sensor module that generated the subsequentpressure wave is secured and/or embedded within and/or based on adistance of the center point to a select location on the golf course.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a process 2200 that can beimplemented by an electronic device executing an exemplary embodiment ofthe monitoring and/or tracking environment 805 to determine whether agolf shot occurred during a round of golf. At step 2202, separatelygenerated pressure waves are detected, by the electroacoustic transducerof the electronic device, from one or more sensor modules operativelycoupled to one or more golf clubs as described herein. At step 2204, theprocessing device of the electronic device can determine a temporalrelationship associated with the detection of the separately generatedpressure waves by the electronic device. At step 2206, the processingdevice of the electronic device can determine whether at least one ofthe separately generated pressure waves corresponds to a golf shot basedon the temporal relationship of detection of the separately generatedpressure waves. For example, the processing device of the electronicdevice can determine whether at least one of the separately generatedpressure waves corresponds to a golf shot based on a time betweendetection of the separately generated pressure waves and/or whether theelectronic device detected the separately generated pressure waveswithin specified time period. In some embodiments, if consecutivelygenerated pressure waves are detected within a specified time of eachother, the processing device of the electronic device can ignore one ormore of the separately generated pressure waves when determining whethera golf shot occurred. In some embodiments, the processing device of theelectronic device can define a time period that begins upon detection ofa first pressure. The first pressure wave and subsequent pressure wavesdetected within the time period can be analyzed with respect tolocations at which the electronic device detected the separatelygenerated pressure waves to determine whether one or more the separatelygenerated pressure waves are associated with one or more golf shots.

In describing exemplary embodiments, specific terminology is used forthe sake of clarity. For purposes of description, each specific term isintended to at least include all technical and functional equivalentsthat operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.Additionally, in some instances where a particular exemplary embodimentincludes a plurality of system elements, device components or methodsteps, those elements, components or steps may be replaced with a singleelement, component or step. Likewise, a single element, component orstep may be replaced with a plurality of elements, components or stepsthat serve the same purpose. Moreover, while exemplary embodiments havebeen shown and described with references to particular embodimentsthereof, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that varioussubstitutions and alterations in form and detail may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention. Further still, otherembodiments, functions and advantages are also within the scope of theinvention.

Exemplary flowcharts are provided herein for illustrative purposes andare non-limiting examples of methods. One of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize that exemplary methods may include more or fewer stepsthan those illustrated in the exemplary flowcharts, and that the stepsin the exemplary flowcharts may be performed in a different order thanthe order shown in the illustrative flowcharts.

1. A sensor module adapted to be affixed to or embedded in a golf club,the sensor module comprising: sensor circuitry including at least onesensor that is operable to generate one or more outputs in response tousage of the golf club; an electromechanical device operable to generatea pressure wave that propagates through air; and control circuitry, thecontrol circuitry being operatively coupled to the sensor circuitry andthe electromechanical device, the control circuitry being configured to(i) detect the usage of the golf club based on the one or more outputsof the sensor circuitry and, (ii) control the electromechanical deviceto move the electromechanical device to generate the pressure wave inresponse to detection of the usage of the golf club, wherein a parameterof the pressure wave identifies the golf club.
 2. The sensor module ofclaim 1, wherein the pressure wave is effective to convey swing analysisinformation to the remote electronic device.
 3. The sensor module ofclaim 1, wherein the parameter of the pressure wave is effective todifferentiate the golf club being used from other golf clubs.
 4. Thesensor module of claim 1, wherein the pressure wave includes at leastone characteristic of a swing of the golf club.
 5. The sensor module ofclaim 1, wherein a plurality of pressure waves are generated and atiming of the generation of the plurality of pressure waves is based onusage of the golf club.
 6. The sensor module of claim 5, wherein atleast one of the plurality of pressure waves is generated after animpact between the golf club and an object is detected.
 7. The sensormodule of claim 5, wherein at least one of the plurality of pressurewaves is generated after a golf swing is completed.
 8. The sensor moduleof claim 1, wherein the pressure wave lasts for a duration of less thanone second.
 9. The sensor module of claim 1, wherein theelectromechanical device includes a speaker for generating the pressurewave.
 10. The sensor module of claim 8, wherein the pressure wave has afrequency between approximately fifteen kilohertz and approximatelytwenty-five kilohertz.
 11. The sensor module of claim 1, wherein afrequency at which the pressure wave propagates uniquely identifies thegolf club.
 12. The sensor module of claim 1, wherein the controlcircuitry includes a processing device.
 13. The sensor module of claim1, wherein the control circuitry controls the electromechanical deviceto modulate the movement of the electromechanical device to encode anindication that an impact has been detected during a golf swing.
 14. Thesensor module of claim 1, wherein the sensor circuitry includes anaccelerometer and the control circuitry determines whether the usage ofthe golf club corresponds to a golf shot or a false positive based onacceleration data output by the accelerometer.
 15. A method ofmonitoring a golf club for a golf shot, comprising: sensing, via sensorcircuitry of a sensor module, usage of the golf club; generating one ormore outputs from the sensor circuitry in response to usage of the golfclub; detecting, via control circuitry, the usage of the golf club basedon the one or more outputs of the sensor circuitry; and controlling, bythe control circuitry, an electromechanical device of the sensor moduleto move the electromechanical device to generate a pressure wave inresponse to detection of the usage of the golf club, wherein a parameterof the pressure wave identifies the golf club.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the output differentiates the golf club for which thepressure wave is generated from other golf clubs.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the electromechanical device includes a speakeradapted to generate the pressure wave.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein generating the pressure wave includes generating the pressurewave at a frequency between approximately fifteen kilohertz andapproximately twenty-five kilohertz.
 19. The method of claim 15, whereingenerating the pressure wave includes generating the pressure wave at afrequency that uniquely identifies the golf club.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein detecting whether the impact corresponds to a golfshot or a false positive includes detecting a change in acceleration ofthe golf club.
 21. A system for monitoring activity associated with agolf club, the system comprising: (a) a sensor module affixed to orembedded in the golf club, the sensor module including: sensor circuitryincluding at least one sensor that is operable to generate one or moreoutputs in response to usage of the golf club; an electromechanicaldevice operable to generate a pressure wave that propagates through air;and first control circuitry, the first control circuitry beingoperatively coupled to the sensor circuitry and the electromechanicaldevice, the first control circuitry being configured to (i) detect theusage of the golf club based on the one or more outputs of the sensorcircuitry, and (ii) control the electromechanical device to move theelectromechanical device to generate the pressure wave in response todetection of the usage of the golf club, (b) an electronic device spacedaway from the sensor module, the electronic device including: anelectroacoustic transducer operable to sense the pressure wavepropagating through air and convert the pressure wave into an electricalsignal; and second control circuitry operable to (i) receive theelectrical signal from the electroacoustic transducer, (ii) associatethe pressure wave with the golf club based on a parameter of thepressure wave represented via the electrical signal, and (iii) attributethe usage of the golf club to the golf club.
 22. The system of claim 21,wherein the output differentiates the golf club for which the pressurewave is generated from other golf clubs.
 23. The system of claim 21,wherein the electronic device demodulates the electrical signal.